1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to magnetic storage devices for storing and retrieving information utilizing a magnetic media and, more specifically, to an improved magnetic storage device including a miniature rigid disk cartridge and associated rigid disk drive which act in conjunction to provide a portable and interchangeable rigid magnetic media information storage and retrieval system.
2. Brief Description of Prior Art
The computer industry offers a large variety of computers and related products in hopes of satisfying the continuous demand for new and innovative high-tech electronic instruments. Much of the emphasis in computer design is on producing devices which are as physically compact as possible, but which retain all of the advantageous features that the latest technology avails. Much emphasis has also been placed upon providing these devices with enlarged information storage capacities, which still allow a fast access time, and provide protection for the recording media. Presently, most computers use some sort of combination of fixed hard disk drives and floppy disk drives or tape drives. The hard disk drive has a higher storage capacity than a floppy drive and allows a faster information access time. However, hard disks are usually internally fixed within the computer casing and are thus not available for removal or interchange with other systems. Floppy disks and tape drives allow removability and interchangeability with other systems, however, they are generally slower to access than the rigid disks and, in the case of floppies, offer a much diminished storage capacity. Neither the floppy disk nor tape drive cartridges provide much protection for the recording media, as both are composed of a housing usually made of plastics. Additionally, the floppy media and tape drive cartridge media are both subject to damaging media wear. There are removable hard disk cartridges available which are similar to floppies except that the hard disk cartridges have a higher storage capacity. However, such hard disk cartridges share a common flaw with the floppy disk and tape cartridge in that all are easily exposed to the external environment and hence contamination. This often results in head crash failure and consequent loss of stored information. A further problem common to all existing tape cartridges, floppy disks and rigid disk cartridges is that, although the disk or tape is removable, the recording head is still located in the drive. This often results in head and tape or disk misalignment and leads to a significant problem in interchangeability between media and drives. Although some manufacturers have recently attempted to remedy these problems by making the complete rigid disk drive system (with or without the circuit boards) removable from a computer system, such attempts have proved to be expensive and the resulting removable unit is bulky and far from conveniently portable.